THE mother of a teenage boy murdered at school says his 15-year-old killer should be named when he is sentenced.
He was convicted last week of stabbing Harvey Willgoose, 15, through the heart in a courtyard during a lunch break.
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He cannot be identified due to an order imposed when he first appeared at court in February.
Media organisations asked Sheffield crown court judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogen to lift the ban in October but she said she wants to hear prosecution and defence views.
However news outlets were allowed to name the school involved as the city’s All Saints Catholic High School.
Yesterday, mum Caroline told BBC Breakfast: “Harvey hasn’t been here to speak up for himself and he’s been named. So, I think the defendant should as well.”
READ MORE ON HARVEY WILLGOOSE
Harvey’s sister Sophie said of the killer: “He’s a 15-year-old boy. We’d like to think that he didn’t want to murder Harvey.
“He’s just from a troubled background and services have let him down.”
Heartbroken Caroline has revealed that Harvey’s final words to her before he left the family home to go to school on Monday were “I love you”.
She told the BBC: “I have got his grubby t-shirt on so I can smell him.
“I don’t want to go to sleep because I don’t want to wake up and have to relive it all and remember it.”
She described her son as “the life and soul of the party” and “a joy to be around”.
“He loved football, football was his life. He was going to be an actor at one point, I think he would have been good at it”, she told the news site.
Harvey’s father, Mark, said his son was his “best pal” and described him as a “loveable rogue”.
“We need to learn from this so no-one goes through what we have as a family,” he said.
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‘His death could have been prevented’ – Harvey’s parents speak out
Harvey Willgoose’s parents believe his death could have been prevented as there were “flags” in the days and hours before he was stabbed to death at his school.
Caroline Willgoose said her son was worried about attending, telling his parents he thought some students had knives, and she said this belief was shared by other children at All Saints Catholic High School, in Sheffield.
Mrs Willgoose said: “There were so many flags, so many flags.
“That’s the harrowing thing, that’s the worst thing, that it could have been so prevented.”
The jury heard how the defendant was asked if had brought anything into school that he should not have just a few hours before he stabbed Harvey, and he assured the assistant head that he did not.
This followed an incident five days before when the school went into lockdown after this boy claimed one of the teenagers involved had a knife, but police found no weapons.
Mrs Willgoose said: “If you have a reason to ask that child, you’ve got a reason to search that child.
“And that was on the morning. Hours before this happened to Harvey.”
She said: “Harvey told us on that Wednesday (five days before he died), ‘this is why I don’t go to school, because children have knives in schools’.
“He told us that on the Wednesday.
“Children knew that there were knives in that school.”
Following his death, Harvey’s family had made contact with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after an axe was discovered in the killer’s bag two months before the murder.
The IOPC said it later received a complaint referral “in relation to the actions and decision-making by officers regarding the alleged offender prior to the incident” and a complaint was also made regarding the actions of an officer following the incident.
It said it was decided that an investigation was required and that it should be undertaken by South Yorkshire Police.
A police spokesman said: “Our thoughts remain with Harvey’s family and loved ones, at what continues to be a heartbreaking time for them. South Yorkshire Police is currently investigating two complaints, which the IOPC referred into the force for local investigation.”
